LONDON - Supacat has taken the wraps off its contender to supply British forces fighting in Afghanistan with a new generation of light protected patrol vehicles (LPPVs). The company has delivered the SPV400 to the U.K. Ministry of Defence for trials alongside machines from two other suppliers in hopes of replacing the Snatch Land Rover with a better protected vehicle.

Trials at the Millbrook Proving Ground are to start in the next few days ahead of a possible urgent operational requirement order of, initially, up to 400 vehicles for British troops in Afghanistan. Other orders from the U.K. military could follow. The program remains unfunded for the moment, but if the order goes ahead, as is expected, a decision on a winner is likely later this year with deliveries due to start next year.

The trial pitches Supacat's SPV400 against the new Ocelot vehicle design from Force Protection Europe and Ricardo Specialist Vehicles and an offering from NP Aerospace.

Before the Jan. 20 publication of the SPV400 prototype's picture, only the Force Protection Ocelot vehicle had been seen publicly. The company rolled out its vehicle in time for the Defence Systems & Equipment International show here in September.

A fourth team short-listed by the MoD for the trials failed to provide vehicles after prime contractor Babcock withdrew at the last moment. Babcock said the Zephyr vehicle provided by design partner Creation UK needed more work to achieve survivability and maturity goals.

Supacat didn't mention by name the Snatch Land Rover replacement program in its news release, as the British MoD has forbidden all the contenders from making any public comments on the politically sensitive LPPV.

The company, a key supplier of high-mobility vehicles such as the Jackal and Coyote to British forces in Afghanistan, said a second prototype SPV400 would join an unnamed trials program toward the end of January.

The British Army is looking for a vehicle of about 7.5 metric tons and a little more than 2 meters wide, and offering new levels of protection compared with the discredited Snatch Land Rover, which has been blamed by the media, politicians and others for a number of roadside-bomb-related deaths.http://www.supacat.co.uk/products/spv400/

Check out the Ocelot vehicle, had better manouverability on press days and didnt break down like the SPV400, its made by Force Protection Europe and Ricardo, Force Protection are the guys who do the Mastiff, Ridgeback, Buffalo and new Wolfhound so know a thing or two about protection!!!!

Check out the Ocelot vehicle, had better manouverability on press days and didnt break down like the SPV400, its made by Force Protection Europe and Ricardo, Force Protection are the guys who do the Mastiff, Ridgeback, Buffalo and new Wolfhound so know a thing or two about protection!!!!